I found that a lot of the puppies get adopted first mostly because families go in to the shelter looking for a young dog because they are cute. Dogs that are older are less likely to get adopted it makes no sense because the pros of adopting an older dog out weigh the cons. With older dogs they are already trained and do not require a lot of time to learn tricks. They have already created their personality, so you can easily find out if they can interact with other dogs, cats and kids. There are over 8 animals that are still in the shelter from the last time I visited. There are more but I did not make it over to the cats area when I visited last. After being at the shelter for a little while these number do not surprise me even if they make me upset. On Sunday there were multiple people at the shelter to adopt dogs and cats. I had the joy of talking to a family about the pros and cons of adopting a dog. The family was torn to pick between a dog that had been there a little while and a puppy. I told them about how dogs that are older do not usually get adopted and how the black dogs are even less likely to be adopted. They really got into our conversation and were making a choice... They still chose the puppy... That upset me because people know that older dogs won't get adopted but they won't do anything about it. It was still their choice and at least they adopted an animal that day.
This is Max (53299) ... He has been in the shelter for over a week. He is slightly older and is not as lively as the other dogs... This is why I think he has not been adopted
I noticed that about the older animals, too. The puppies disappear very quickly from there. About your image, the only thing I would change is dodging the eyes and lighter areas of the fur a bit more. I have found that when I dodge them, they always seem to appear darker on the website. Great shot of Max!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Karen! I was using a point and shoot because I forgot to put batteries in my larger camera... Oops! I will have to go in and try this one again.
ReplyDeleteKat, great post. I just want you to be careful about making generalizations. We want to clarify that these have been our experiences at this particular shelter. It is true that puppies get adopted faster than older dogs, and animals with black fur are less likely to be adopted. I just want you to be careful and make sure you say "in my opinion, the pros of adopting an older dog...", or "From what I have witnessed so far, older dogs take longer to find homes..." I completely agree with you, but we want to make sure people know that this is your take on the matter!
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